'Just unreal' - Hearts striker Liam Boyce opens up on being Northern Ireland's penalty hero

Fresh from scoring the winning penalty for Nothern Ireland, Liam Boyce netted for Hearts from the spot against Dundee.

After all, the 29-year-old had been a busy man beforehand. Be it scoring a penalty for Northern Ireland to put them one step away from Euro 2020, or leading the line for Hearts and netting from the spot in their 6-2 mauling of Dundee in the Championship curtain-raiser, Boyce has been at the forefront of success for club and country.

That’s just the way the January signing from Burton Albion likes it. He loves to be in the thick of things. Some players would have returned from international duty lacking the energy to pull on the club shirt less than 48 hours later, but both Boyce and his international team-mate Michael Smith played key roles as Robbie Neilson’s men kicked off their title tilt with a bang.

Adrenaline will have helped Boyce, of course. It takes a fair bit of time to pass before you come down from cloud nine after scoring the winning spot-kick in a crunch shoot-out.

Boyce was Northern Ireland’s penalty hero when he delivered the winning strike to defeat Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo 12 days ago to set up a winner-takes-all clash against Slovakia. Much like Scotland against Israel, it was tense and nervous for Ian Baraclough’s team in the Balkans, but Boyce – despite having not touched the ball before his penalty – delivered in style.

Not good preparation ...

Recalling his heroics in Bosnia, Boyce told the Evening News: “It was just unreal. I’ve never been in that situation – I’ve only been in one other penalty shoot-out in my life and that was when I was 12! – so to be told that you’re going on for the last 30 seconds of the game and for it to come down to penalties …

"I’d actually missed my last three before it. We’d been practising them for the last two trips and I scored, so I got the hump off my back. The last one I actually missed was a bounce game at Tynecastle against big Bobby [Zlamal].

"I didn’t touch the ball before the penalty. I was put on in central midfield to try and get us to penalties. I was running about trying to get a touch as much as I could, but it didn’t happen … I hadn’t touched the ball since the warm-up at half time, so it was a bit nerve-wracking walking up to take it, but I put it in.

"The penalty against Bosnia gave me that bit of confidence to step up against Dundee and thankfully that went in as well."

Whirlwind turnaround

Boyce also played eight minutes in a Nations League match against Austria, but was an unused substitute against Norway last Wednesday. Even still, the amount of travel involved and the emotion of international football took its toll. The former Ross County hitman admitted it was tough to be thrown back into club action so soon.

"Especially with the three games, it was very difficult to come back in,” said Boyce. “There was a lot of travelling and obviously, in these conditions, you’ve got to fly countries and fly back straight after games. You do stiffen up. I played a good 70 minutes against Dundee and that made my hamstring a bit tight. That was probably due to all the travelling. But it was good to get a goal and good to see us play so well and score so many goals.”

Leading the line

Boyce was a right handful for Dundee, even if his powers had been diminished slightly by what went on beforehand. He played the No.9 role with aplomb, linking up with his wingers and midfielders. His movement and trickery were a source of discomfort for Jordon Forster, so much so that the ex-Hibs centre-half was subbed at half time. He will be a massive player for Hearts this season.

“I thought we did really well against Dundee,” said Boyce. “It’s a great result, winning 6-2 in our first league match. I think we dealt with their threats. The only thing missing was a clean sheet. They deserved it.”

True team player

Boyce took his place in the starting XI ahead of Craig Wighton, who three days previously had bagged a treble against Raith Rovers in the Betfred Cup. You can tell just by speaking to Boyce that he is a fan of Wighton. He watched Hearts’ 3-1 win over the Kirkcaldy outfit from his hotel in Oslo and revealed that he felt a bit sorry for his team-mate as he was demoted to the bench.

"I felt Craig was a bit hard done by, he scored a hat-trick against Raith,” said Boyce. “I watched the game when I was in Norway and I thought he was brilliant. But it’s good that we have a squad like this. There’s no doubt he’s going be needed. To score hat-tricks and have someone off the bench who can come on or start when needed, we know we have goals – hopefully we can both keep scoring lots and lots of goals.”

Boyce will be a key player for Hearts this term. It is clear he is Neilson’s first choice in attack and will score goals if the service is there. Bashful as ever, though, Boyce isn’t focused on his own goal count. "It’s good for strikers to be scoring, but as long as we are winning, I’ll be happy,” he added. Life is certainly cheery for him right now.

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